you know what? you're not wrong

reuse? sure. recycle? maybe not. recycling might not be all it's sorted and bundled up to be.

why do we recycle? because it makes us feel good. really. and because we feel like others will look down on us if we don't "do our part". well, should we just assume that recycling is actually a useful task?

recycling has high costs. not just in the time and money spent transportating materials, sorting them, paying workers, and processing the materials, but also the energy required for all of these things to take place. sometimes we forget that energy always comes from somewhere.

okay, recycling aluminum cans has proven to be worthwhile. but paper, cardboard, plastic? they all cost more than they're worth, and can produce inferior recycled products. you might also be interested to know that waste decomposing in landfills actually creates gas as a bi-product that can be gathered and used for power generation. and we're not running out of room for landfills. and the reason so many trees die to create paper is because they are grown for that express purpose. kind of like, oh I don't know, vegetables.

don't believe everything you read or hear. everyone knows that. but it's also important to question ideas that are popularly held. everyone has a motive, and often it is driven by politics, not necessarily our well-being.

just because an idea is popular doesn't mean it is right, the opposite is true as well.

question everything. but do so with logic and common sense. I'm not saying you have to agree with what I've said, hell, I'm not even sure what to think myself.

(from The SImpsons episode 4F17: The Old Man and the Lisa)
Lisa: Stop! Don't recycle! It's murder! You're helping Mr. Burns!
Woman: [robotically] But you told us to recycle.
Man: [robotically] You convinced us it was good.

think.
david